After
by Astra'shadow
Summary: Ganondorf has been slayed and now the people celebrate that very day one year later. Link and Zelda both naturally attend but when the festivities are shattered and a shade from Link's past appears with a unlikely message what will happen? Zelink
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

**So this is the first story in my mind that I've decided to put on paper or rather on the computer so to speak. I have the whole plot of this thing ironed out so... yeah anyway enjoy and please review, it makes become a better author when I know what my readers want. Thanks,**

**Astra'shadow.**

**By the way I DO NOT own the legend of zelda series, though personally if I did, I would make a sequel to Twilight princess(My fav game other than Ocarina of time)**

1.

" So how long has it been?" the man mused to himself, running his fingers over the handle of the sword he had used once. Goat horns neatly adorned the handle and he satisfied himself with running his fingers over them, reveling in the sensations that sparked to life...

_Moblins cut to pieces... The feeling of blood splattering on his face._The man or rather link sighed as he moved onto another one of his old memories, a hookshoot. Link fingered the handle of the tool before setting it back onto the table. He rubbed the triangular birth mark on his hand before stroking the scales of the Zora garment.

Link sighed and stepped back _I'm not a hero anymore _he admonished himself placing the various tools on the table. Before halting one last time before a suit of green, underlined with chain mail and cleaned to the point where the metal on it gleamed. Link sighed again before dropping his hand to his side. He WANTED to don the old outfit again, to make himself believe he was the hero again and inside the beast inside of him reared it's head in agreement. Link grabbed his wrist with a suppressed rage. _No I'm not the hero anymore_ he thought _Now I'm a ranch hand that lives on Lon Lon Ranch with Malon and her family. _

"Never mind..." he muttered out loud before turning back to the house he had once lived in, he had long stopped considering it home, what was a home if no one ever lived in it? Now to him it was more a relic, something to keep his simple roots embeded into the ground that was drowning in the guise of the hero.

Today was the day that he and Zelda had struck down Ganon, the day that he had refused to be sent back in time to relive his childhood. More important to most people, today was the day that they got a day of work, and instead got to drink with friends and family about the day where all the evil in the world had been vanquished by a unlikely hero from the forest.

And as the unlikely hero from the forest, he was expected to attend. Link sighed and ran his fingers through his long, dirty, blond hair before shouldering a pack of things he needed to get to castle Hyrule. A single sword, a bottle of red potion(not that he expected to need any) and more importantly a days worth of rations including (Dried Beef(gotta have it), a bottle of iced tea, and a brownie baked for him by Malon to indulge his sweet tooth or what ever she said.

Link sighed and walked outside, careful to avoid anyone like Talon, **especially **Talon, Farore knows how much he hated the idea of a _queer dressing bastard boy _staying at his ranch when he already had other **qualified **staff to help him on the ranch. Talon would be even more peeved if he realized that he was going to the festival, one that he had specifically prohibited everyone at the ranch from going to. Though Goddessess knew why in the world he did that. The fact that Link also had several lethal weapons stowed in the room he grudgingly allowed him to take would also not shine in a cherry light.

Link chuckled once, before jumping onto Epona with as much grace as he could muster, he grimaced at the audible "thud!" he made as he settle himself into the saddle. Shiek would've killed him if he saw the ruckus that made along with a few choice words like _I thought I taught you better hero. _Before making some insult at whether he actually was a hero or a cross dressing girl that got a kick out of getting high of mushrooms. Link smiled slightly _One moment she's sane, the next she's not._

The Green hero winced at the welcome he'd get if he was late before thundering of on Epona, to hell if Talon got irritated at the fact that he was taking his daughters favorite horse. He sighed in content how long had it been since he had rode on Epona like this? How long had it been since he felt the cool breeze on his face?

_Too Long _he thought with a bittersweet tinge to his mental voice before promptly jumping the fence that marked the border of Lon Lon ranch and galloping away.

The wind blew in the man's hair, sending it rustling around him further enhancing his already wild and untamed look. _Shit _he swore as he looked at the sky, judging by the position of the sun he had about an hour before he was late to festival.

Shieks gonna kill me, he thought with a sinking feeling at the female sheikah's obsession with keeping impeccable timing. _Though, it probably comes with the job, I mean think about how precise you have to be to show up right when the I need her. _

_30 minutes_ he thought driving Epona harder than she probably deserved. "Sorry about this girl" he said stroking her mane as she bolted through the plains. He could see the castle in the distance, _almost _he thought, his heart pounding frantically. The scent of food and wine was already in the air.

"Stop mocking me!" The green clad boy moaned as the drawbridge drew ever closer. _Ten minutes._

"HALT!" _What in Din's name..._

"State your name traveler." The guard at the drawbridge snapped, him and his companion crossing the spears threateningly in front of him.

Link wrenched the rein's to the side halting Epona before she could bust the two guards aside like leaves in a tornado and also preventing the sword that he held in his hand from impaling the other men in the chest. A really awkward entrance for the EX-Hero of time if it did happen.

_Hey Zel, I kinda busted your guards chest apart and he's dead right now so... happy holidays. _Yeah right, most likely Zelda would watch Nabooru chase me a round with the traditional longsword that she carried while hiding her laughter and later graciously offering to heal my wounds.

"Link" He said panting"Now will you **please** let me through? Zel's gonna kill me if I'm late."

"The Hero of Time?" The guard to the left asked disbelievingly.

"No, it's a homeless deku shrub, Of course it's the Hero of Time who else is called Link?" Link said sarcastically while biting his tongue before feeling a thrill of unease _should he be this impolite to the guards?_. _5 minutes._

" _Well,_there are multiple Links in the castle, all named after the Hero of Time which is probably not you. I mean what hero eats a brownie while riding to the castle?" The guard said, a generic smart ass in general while he pointed toward my right hand which was actually holding a half eaten brownie.

"So your telling me that to be the Hero of Time you've got to not have a brownie in your hand and ride majestically into the castle? How stereo typical is that?" Link sputtered before deciding _screw it _he was getting into the castle and he was not going to get rebuked for being late when it was these two lump's fault for not letting him through.

Link reared Epona and almost contemptuously rammed the guards aside and thundered into the castle. 2 minutes he thought with the familiar sinking feeling he had felt at the beginning of the journey. He shouldn't be worried about Shiek, it was probably going to be Nabooru that would pound his face in. After all the sages were all going to be there save of course Saria who was bound to the woods.

He heard a rather muted "Halt!" from behind him that he summarized were the guards, Link glanced back before sighing, damnit he thought before jumping of Epona and into the throngs of people that were gathered there to attend the Festival. "Made it." he sighed in relief as he ran his fingers over the stone that made up the houses and roads on Hyrule castle.

_It's been a year _he thought wistfully since he had stood in the spot he was standing in now, a young boy looking at the castle that loomed above with no fear in his heart. A year since he had last seen Zelda, a year since he had even bothered to unsheath his sword. A feeling of loss pinged into his chest and he sighed _I'm not a hero anymore _he thought firmly before steeling himself to look for the familiar crown that had always settled on the princess' head.

Link sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, he swore he saw a flash of red, the distinct mark of a gerudo, and a cowled face some where, the sure sign of a shiekiah. But no telling crown that practically screamed I'm Zelda, come and find me. " The one time I need to find her..." he muttered looking around for the princess.

" There you are, Link." A voice said almost melodiously.

Link nodded the familiar accent and tone smoothing over his mind,_ it really has been a long time_ he thought dryly before turning around to look a certain princess in the eyes.

"Zelda."

**So like, dislike give me some feed back please and this story is based losely of Ocarina of time with a little Twilight Princess thrown in, so sorry no Midna unless my reviewers want me to. *Hint*Hint*. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note**

**I'm getting the plot rolling at the end of this chapter and as a small note, this is a gradual Zelink, not a love at first sight type romance. I'm hoping to build on their relationship later and I will be introducing a few OOC's later in the story. There are 4 in this chapter but three of them die by the end of the next chapter.  
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_**Italics: Thoughts, hallucinations anything mental basically.**_

**Bold: Emphasized words in speech, important stuff in general. **

2.

" Has it really been a year already?" Link asked curiously, his hand moving toward Epona to guide her toward a stable that was already jam packed with a variety of horses. Zelda followed easily, the inhuman grace that she moved with befit the time that she had occasionally posed as Shiek to give him a new melody.

The royal princesses of Hyrule was dressed modestly, the usual jeweled crown on her head and a dress that managed not to look too lavish, a impressive feat for the crown princess of hyrule .The only jewelry she wore was her crown and a necklace that she had received for her Birthday.

" It seems so, so Hero how has it been since then? You look well." The brunette princess said easily while neatly sliding behind two men that were arguing about the price of specially goron brewed beverage.

" Well let's see, I haven't even so much as swung my sword since that day with Ganon and now I'm working at Lon Lon Ranch out of boredom." Link said lightly, his fingers dropping a red rupee into the awaiting stable hand's hand before letting go of his brown haired horse's rein and carefully making sure he didn't lock eyes with the princess. If he did he was sure that the memories that he'd tried to bury would resurface.

" So how's Shiek these days? I really still can't believe that she let you use her body for a while."Link asked smirked slightly

"Why the interest in Shiek? Don't tell me the Hero of time has love interest in a certain obscure Shiekah."

Link felt his cheeks heaten a touch before easily replying " I've had an interest, since you suddenly left her body and allowed her to beat me like a drum for me saying that she looked like a guy."

Zelda chuckled and rubbed the crown on her auburn hair and opening her mouth for a reply before a cool voice cut in

" You deserved it." A female sheikah said her voice muffled by the cowl that she always wore. The girl was dressed in traditional sheikah attire, with a tight light blue suit and a cowl with the shiekah eye marked onto the blue fabric. There was also a diamond dangling from one ear showing that she was a girl as the cowl covered almost all of her face.

Link turned around his blue eyes locking with ruby red ones sudden memories coursing into his mind _Shiek teaching him the bolero of fire, Shiek chuckling at him as he tripped and fell into Lake Hylia _ " Shiek!" he greeted cheerfully stepping in close for a hug. He could at least stand those memories, they weren't exactly painful and haunted by a certain king's chilling laugh. " How's it been?"

Shiek rolled her eyes but never the less allowed the hero to embrace her though not returning the gesture. " Same as always, princesses body guard." she said simply, her right finger caressing a variety of daggers in her left hand.

Zelda sighed and touched her friends shoulder with her right hand " Put away the weapons will you Shiek? You'll frighten the children." she said as her blue eyes observed a short black haired boy look at the stiletto on Shiek's index finger with a mix of fear and a odd curiosity.

Sheik blinked and suddenly the weapons vanished. The shiekah girl blinked again and nodded toward Zelda " By your leave princess? I need to see my old mentor and get something to eat." she said, her ruby eyes already eying a stack of gerudo pancakes that were being served at a nearby stall.

Zelda's eyes twinkled slightly and she nodded " Sure, but I'm coming with you, princesses have to eat too and I haven't seen Impa in a while either" she said her voice darkening slightly as she remembered her old bodyguard.

Link looked over with his mouth agape "Princesses eat? I thought they sucked blood or something." he mocked, dancing out of the well placed slap that would of laid him out onto the stone road of Hyrule castle.

Zelda and Shiek slid over to the pancake stand, their grace mirroring each other as they weaved and flexed through the crowd. Link sighed and peered over to where it appeared the main event was occurring and he walked over his blue eyes zooming in on two girls, one with intense red hair and a expression that screamed playful mischief, the other who had fins and was absently stroking a light blue stone that looked like it had been divided into three pieces and run through with gold wire.

Link sighed and walked a little unwillingly over to Nabooru and Ruto and slid smoothly behind Nabooru and plopped down on a seat and with skills that had been taught to him by the gerudo themselves he snapped his fingers out and sneakily removed a necklace, before a vice like grip promptly forced him to drop it " You know I regret teaching someone like you those skills." Nabooru commented without even bothering to turn around.

" A thief should always be prepared" Link chuckled as he quoted one of her famous lines. " So how's it been you two?"

Nabooru smirked her devilish smile " Well Ladies first Link, how have you been?"

Ruto chimed in right after Nabooru finished talking " He was dreary and in depression for 13 days straight." she answered for Link without skipping a beat.

Link sputtered indignantly "What makes you think that?" he asked.

Ruto flashed a winning smile " Well without your fiance it would be obvious that your in depression . I sure was."

Link blinked twice before reaching into his back pocket to take out a small book titled _Rules and Customs of the Zora._Link deftly flicked open to page 21, the one he had marked with a droplet of blood. He read aloud " The Zora Sapphire is traditionally given to the princesses chosen ," The hero stressed the word however " If the male is unwilling or has some disablity that prevents him from effectively ruling then the engagement may be withdrawn."

The Hero of time let a small smile grace his face " I went to library just to find this you know."

Ruto blinked twice " I don't see any crippling disabilities." she said curiously." Nabooru just looked like she was about to die from laughter or confusion, which one it was Link couldn't tell.

Link was tempted to just throw Ruto into a pit full of Moblins and watch the show. The temptation occurred almost every time he saw Ruto along with a sudden attack of Migraines " I'm not a fish." he said before answering Nabooru's question " It's been fine, working at Malon's place but I'm still looking for Navi." he said a touch sadly as the memory of his old fairy floated into his mind.

Nabooru turned her head around curiously to eye a stall of expensive jewelry before turning her head back to link " That ball of fluff that always seemed to float out of your hat and if I remembered correctly irritated the devil out of you?" she asked mildly, her eyes still glued onto the stall of Jewelry, her thieving instincts zooming in on a exotic diamond sheikah ear ring, similar to the one that Shiek wore.

Link nodded " The same." he said looking around the crowd for any familiar faces " Seen Saria around lately?" he asked curiously.

Ruto shrugged obviously put out by the fact that she had just been told very bluntly to go find some one else.

Nabooru shrugged in a motion almost identical to Ruto's " Nope." she said absent mindfully, her narrow fingers twitching in quiet anticipation as she watched the stall owner slowly, but surely beginning to get drunk on the Goron special that they were handing out for free.

Link sighed and ran his fingers through his hair "I would of liked to see her again." he said to himself as a certain brunnete princesses and two sheikah's stalked over.

" Found the other sages I see." Impa commented, her right hand holding a blueberry cupcake.

Shiek chuckled slightly " Broke the news to Ruto I suppose?" the female sheikah said while she absent mindlessly tore the pancake that she had in her hands to neat bites.

Link tore his eyes away from his memories to gaze at crimson eyes, _a shiekah on a horse, a young Zelda flinging a sky blue ocarina,spinning, spinning through the air... _"Impa ." he greeted lightly " How have you been?"

Impa shrugged " Gathering the sheikah, fulfilling my duties, stuff." she said, closed mouth as ever as her crimson orbs watched a friendly spar in between two gerudo's, their crimson hair and scimitars moving like they were born to do this single task as they swiped at each other.

Zelda blinked, her sky blue eyes looking curiously to her one time bodyguard " There are other sheikah in Hyrule?" she asked curiously as Nabooru suddenly vanished like a ghost.

Impa dipped her head slightly " Yes, but most of them are only small groups, there are only about 4 established settlements in Hyrule right now."

Link smiled slightly at Zelda " Something you don't know? Are you sure that the Triforce of Wisdom isn't inked on to your right hand?"

Zelda shrugged " Whether it's inked or not isn't the matter of discussion. What **is **the matter of discussion is what your going to say as the Hero of Time in about 30 minutes time." she said smoothly.

Link blinked and looked over at the stage that he had noticed when he had first entered the festival " A speech huh?" he said curiously before turning back to Zelda " By the way why haven't we gotten mobbed by your adoring citizens yet princess?"

Zelda pointed to Sheik who was standing behind her " Them." she said simply before adding on " Well also the fact that most of them are a little worried about the group of soldiers I sent to go take care of some small infestation up north."

Link raised an eyebrow at that "Must be some infestation. But anyway whats so special about them? I mean no offense, but they just dress differently and you have a bunch of weapons that jump out of no where but other than that I see nothing that's preventing your loyal fans from asking you for your autograph and stuff like that."

Zelda rubbed the crown on her head with her index finger " Well..."

Sheik stopped the remainder of the sentence with a short jab to the royal highness' stomach. " She never knows when to shut up does she?" Sheik muttered as she slung the unconscious Zelda over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Impa nodded slightly " You don't need to know all the details, just trust me when I say that we didn't willingly serve the royal family."

Link raised an eyebrow at that, the sheikah always seemed so confident in their role that he had automatically assumed that they had chosen to take on the duty _how wrong he was_ he thought dryly."What..."

Sheik glared at him, her Ruby gaze burning like smoldering coals " Nothing you need to know about." she said bluntly as she deposited the princess like a kitten onto one of the benches to the side.

Link sighed " You do know that I have a speech in like ten minutes right?" he said, pushing away his curiosity as he jabbed the princess in the stomach "Wake up Zel." he muttered annoyed as he resumed jabbing her.

Zelda blinked, her light blue eyes widening slightly as she sat up with a huff " Life is life." she said as she frowned to a pair of guards " I thought I told you that I wanted to be by myself for a while." she snapped as her eye brows narrowed downwards into an impressive V shape.

The guards looked like he was about to make a dive for the nearest object of protection before he somehow managed to work up the courage to walk up to the princess and muttered something into her ear.

Zelda nodded a slight frown gracing her face before her regular expression of serenity crossed her face." I need to go." she said simply then after seeing both Impa and Shiek rise to their feet she added "Alone."

Link frowned as he watched her swiftly retreating form " What's up with her? Doesn't she always have one of her "shadows" with her wherever she goes."

Impa shrugged " I hope this has nothing to do with the infestation up north, I sent a few shiekah up there myself." she commented.

Shiek blinked her ruby red eyes " Who did you send?" she asked curiously.

" Zephyr, Shard, Alloute, Venia, and Astraeus."she said still looking at the princesses retreating form.

The expression on Zelda's face kept on repeating itself, it wasn't a typical expression for the princess, all three of them mused. 2 sheikah and one hero all knew that the most common expression on Zelda's face was a somber look that gave her a sad aura but there was never any hint of being upset.

To be upset showed a imbalance of emotions and that was something none of them had seen. Link frowned and rubbed the sword hilt protruding over his right shoulder. _This day is getting more complicated, looks like I might need you after all _He thought as he looked outside to the darkness that seemed to swell with every cheer and laugh of the blissfully ignorant citizens of Hyrule.

_Hero..._

Link blinked and began to make his way toward the stage, his speech was on in about 5 minutes.

_You will come to me..._

_Hero..._

Link rubbed his forehead, stupid migraines he thought annoyed as he neatly leaped up onto the stage amid a throng of cheers and thundering applause. "Hero, Hero," they chanted, like children chanting for their favorite desert after a long satisfying dinner.

_The sky will bleed red with the coming storm, and it will rain blood all because of you..._

_Hero..._

"Hero!"

_Hero_

"Hero!"

_Hero_

The thudding in his temple was getting worse Link raised his hand dramatically " Greetings citizens of hyrule, Gerudo, and the assortment of people in this land of Hyrule. " There was a wave of applause.

"Today is the day that Zelda and I struck down the Evil..." Link's voice trailed of as he looked into the crowd. Pure black hair, Jet black eyes, and a outfit that matched his own down to the number of ear rings he had in each ear. _Damn _was all he had time to think about before all hell broke loose.

_Hero... Come meet your fate Hero. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note**

**Thank you for all the people that have read my story. Now if you are reading this, which I sincerely hope you are then please review, to me personally, reviewing is a huge moral booster (It lets me know that there are people that are reading and hopefully enjoying this fic.) but I'm not begging you to review, you do what you want to do. But thank you to all those who have reviewed and enjoy the story. **

**Disclaimer : I do not own The legend of Zelda**

**Recap:**

"Today is the day that Zelda and I struck down the Evil..." Link's voice trailed of as he looked into the crowd. Pure black hair, Jet black eyes, and a outfit that matched his own down to the number of ear rings he had in each ear. _Damn _was all he had time to think about before all hell broke loose.

_Hero... Come meet your fate Hero. _

Link stared, his voice dwindling off as he gaped for a moment before unsheathing his sword, oblivious from all the odd looks he was receiving. "What are you doing here?" Link asked calmly. The other man's lips twitched, the slightest of movement that meant that something bad was going to happen.

"You of all people should know what will happen." The Black version of Link said simply. The voice was surprisingly smooth Link thought as he clenched his blade tightly with his right hand, Not a voice, that he had expected his opposite to have. Rasping like sand paper and echoing with the hiss of a lizardfos was what he thought his mirror's voice would sound like.

"So then, your here to kill the Princess?"

The other man chuckled before looking at him in the face " Really? Take a good long look at my face and tell me who you think I am."

" It's obvious who you are." Link said bluntly " Dark Link, you look just like me, except all in black of course."

" Well then it's a pity that the Hero doesn't have the Triforce of wisdom then." He laughed and pulled down one of his eye lids like a child would.

Link gripped the sword even tighter, the confusing drone of the crowd blending away into background. He was in the act of lunging at the black bastard, looking forward to seeing him on the tip of his sword before he stopped. Black eyes? He thought as the air seemed to turn into honey as he watched his blade home in ever closer, the dark link he remembered had red eyes.

"Link?" A voice yelled out, pitched higher from it's normally calm pitch as the blade moved closer.

All of a sudden time seemed to speed up again. A series of events suddenly moved into action like a cannon shot, A throwing knife whistling through the air, a sudden slithering of motion as the other link slid his black shield around. The sparks that whistled through the air as metal grated against metal. The sudden thud as the throwing knife found a home in the thigh of a innocent civilian. Several scimitars sliding out of their sheaths, the sound harsh in the already chaotic environment. A citizen suddenly drops to the ground, his body folding like a house of cards. Shiek swearing as her knife impaled itself into the citizen.

"What the HELL did you do?" Link snarled as his hand drove the sword harder into the black emblem on the black mirror shield, looking a piece of polished obsidian.

"What did I do? You should be asking your self not me." The man snarled as his left hand shifted instinctively to the blade slung over his right shoulder. Nabooru shot forward like a striking cobra, her crimson hair moving wildly into the wind as she grabbed his left hand in a vice like grip. Her other hand holding her scimitar threateningly.

"Well let's start of with something easier then." Link snapped, dipping his head in a quick nod of thanks to Nabooru. "Who are you?"

"Who am I? Well why doesn't the all knowing princess Zelda answer that question." He jeered as he snapped out with his right leg to piston into Nabooru's side. Nabooru dropped his hand like a hot potato " Din above that hurt!" she snarled as the Black Link bolted like a arrow from it's bow. " The sky is rather beautiful today is it not? Rather fitting for the first lock on my master." he said as he ran past Link, who being the impulsive Hero gave chase.

Link gasped as he tripped over a cinder block and swiftly righted himself, shoving through the oppressive crowd "Out of the way!" he snapped as he caught a glimpse of ebony hair flashing out of the gates and a familiar shrill neigh. "Bastard." he gasped out as he caught a glance of his beloved Epona as she rocketed out Hyrules left gate. The fiugre on the horses back smiled and raised something blue in the air before he vanished. Something Blue...

Link felt for the pouch where he kept his most prized possession and found it empty. "Damn it." he hissed as Link drove the sword he was holding into the ground

"Link!" A voice snapped out, two shadowy blurs suddenly moving like lightning as they appeared with the princess in two.

"What?" he snarled oblivious to the rumble of citizens around him.

_I told you so hero..._

"I don't need any more f**king migraines." he screamed as several of the citizens regarded him with barely veiled expressions of contempt.

"So this is the Hero of Time." a voice murmured.

"Who said that?" Link asked.

"I did." A biting voice snapped, a darkly clad male sheikah stepping out of a corner, his tunic Link noted was stained with blood and his chest was heaving showing that he had probably ran a long ways, his face wrapping was also starting to get undone, exposing the left side of his cheek before he swiftly wrapped it back around.

Impa immediately stiffened with worry her eyes darting to the bloodied uniform " What happened Astraeus?" she snapped out.

The sheikah didn't reply, instead affixing his eyes on the hero " Leave." he said curtly. Everyone blinked "Leave." he said in a louder tone, this time the crowd got the message, two people supporting the body of the man who had gotten nailed with Sheik's throwing knife.

Zelda stepped forward her eyes cold " Who gave you the right to tell my people whether they leave or not?"

The sheikah or rather Astraeus replied icily " The very fact that I am the last of my clan,Rexyvinr gives me right."

Sheik paled, her eyes immediately darting to Impa. " Dying Shadow?" she asked curiously wondering at the curious title he had addressed the princess with.

Impa glared, _shut up _her eyes said.

Nabooru stepped forwards her aburn eyes blazing " Speak with respect to a Sage." she said .

Astreaus' eyes darted briefly to her before returning to Links " Some Hero..." he repeated before turning to Impa. " The others are dead." he said before beginning to stalk away.

Impa froze with shock " All of them?" she asked.

"Obviously, who's blood do you think this is?" he snapped as he strolled away.

Link opened his mouth, about to run after the dark sheikah before a delicate hand rested on his shoulder.

Zelda said delicately " He is of no consequence Link, what's more important is what happened over there with Dark Link."

Nabooru planted her back against the wall " Yeah what did he want? He didn't kill anyone as far as we know, and he didn't take any of the spiritual stones either from checking with Darunia and Ruto and Saria is safe in the Kokiri Forest."

Link grimaced " He got the Ocarina,." he said flatly " And I know it's not Dark Link, Dark Link had red eyes not black. "

Everyone eyed the Hero of Time fearfully " You do mean the fairy one don't you?" Sheik asked quietly.

Link sighed " No, he stole the ocarina of time."

-Stunned Silence-

"That Bastard." Cue Nabooru.

Zelda looked over at Impa " Impa?"

Impa was staring fixedly at a lamppost that was flickering with flames, she'd been in that position since Astreaus had left. "What?" She asked her eyes suddenly coming back to life.

"What do you think we should do?" Zelda asked while Link sighed as Zelda led him to a near by bench and he plopped down on it wearily, too tired to retrieve his sword from where he had drove it into the ground.

Impa went back to her staring match with the lamp.

Zelda sat next to Link and eyed her former body guard curiously " Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No." Impa replied curtly.

"Your usually never this distracted." Zelda said bluntly.

Sheik blinked, a sudden expression crossing her face.

"I'm fine." Impa replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

Impa glared.

Ruto sighed eager to break up the tension " I don't know about you guys but I'm turning in for the night." she said with a yawn and she somersaulted into the fountain that was in the center of Castle Town(Think Twilight Princess).

Nabooru nodded and fiddled around with the new diamond ear ring she had "purchased" "Yeah we should discuss Dark Link in the morning." she said as she stumbled wearily toward a bar that her bodyguards had decided to set up base in for the night, eager to curl up under some covers and dream of sand and the burning sun.

Link glared at the direction that Astraeus had went of to and went the opposite direction, yanking out his blade from the ground as he did so, muttering words along the lines of "Those damn sheikah" and "Black haired sob"

Zelda glared fixedly at Impa " Something happened didn't it?"

Sheik sighed and began to polish her stiletto knife.

Impa glared " Your smart mouth will get you in trouble." In a tone that pretty much said "Drop it or some sharp things will come flying".

"He said that they're all dead, who died?" Zelda asked seriously. " If they're my people, I have a right to know."

Impa stalked away and slammed a Deku Nut against the ground resulting in a flash of light. When the light cleared, the Sage of Shadow was gone.

Zelda looked at Sheik dumbfounded " Did she just walk away from the princess?"

Sheik shrugged " Probably."

"Aren't you going to follow her?" Zelda asked curiously.

"I am your bodyguard not hers." Sheik said, leaning against the wall.

"So... we heading to the castle or what?" Shiek asked after a moment of tense silence. The sky rumbled and lightning forked the sky. The clucking of Cukoo's in the distance said that there was going to be a storm soon.

_Hero..._

Link snapped upright in the cheap hotel bed that he was sleeping in.

"Problem?" Darunia asked from the other bed, which looked like it was going to cry from pure extertion.

"No, it's nothing."

**If you recall Astreaus was one of the Sheikah that Impa sent up with Zelda's men to investigate a infestation. **

**So then... Tell me what you think, love it? Hate it? **


	4. Chapter 4 Shades and Sheikah

**Authors Note**

**The plot really get's rolling in this chapter, even though the first part doesn't really seem like it. Keep on reading and I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. **

**By the way Astraeus will be a main supporting character, personally he's fun to write. It'd be nice if you guys dropped a review to tell me how much you like Astraeus' character overall.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda, Nuff said.**

* * *

><p>Link snapped open his eyes and looked blearily out side the window. It was still dark outside, Link yawned and looked over at Darunia, the bed he was sleeping on had caved in but regardless the Goron kept on napping.<p>

Link smirked just a little before standing up and sliding on a dark green shirt and his trademark green hat along with a pair of pants. The clothes coming out of the pack that he carried, a gift from Navi from the beginning of their journey. Link sighed and rubbed the old thing lightly. Before he would have carried all of his tools and weapons in there. Now it was used for carrying day to day itiems.

Link sighed again and started to walk down stairs. A light was on, he noticed as he walked down the stairs. He peered around the corner and stiffened slightly. Zelda was there and clad in light sleep wear that made her look like any other person in the morning except for the thick tome that glimmered in the light of what seemed to be a floating ball of fire and a noticeable drop in modesty for the princess of Hyrule. " What are you wearing Zel?" he sputtered as he stepped around the corner, the tips of his ears red.

Zelda snapped her head to the left " Link" she greeted, motioning for him to sit on the chair to her left as she closed the massive tome with a thud. " I didn't know that you would be here." she said lightly, cocking her head to one side ignoring the question.

" Why wouldn't I be here? After all it is a inn isn't it? And again why are you wearing that?" Link said, taking out a stick from his pouch and igniting it with the magical fire that Zelda was reading by before placing it under neath a pot that he promptly filled with water from a bottle in his pack.

" No, it's a library." she said faintly amused " I sleep here most of the time."

Link looked over at the princess " Wait... Then the room we've been sleeping in is..."

"Mine." Zelda said before covering up a yawn with her hand.

" Farore Zelda! I'm so sorry." Link stammered as he now realized why the bed sheets were pink and the unusual abundance of books on the shelf. He dreaded to think what he would of found if he had bothered combing through the drawers.

" No worries Link." Zelda laughed " It's the least I can do for the man who saved my kingdom."

Link looked around " Sheik isn't here is she?" He said nervously while turning around. _She better not be right behind..._ He promptly met the ruby gaze of a not so happy sheikah _me. _The green clad hero sighed.

" You know how uncomfortable it is to sleep on wooden desks?" she snapped annoyed.

Zelda yawned " Never mind that Sheik, now that Links up I suppose we can call everyone together now."

" Fine." she sighed as she ghosted past Link and went to the fountain in the middl e of Castle Town to wake up Ruto.

" Your getting Nabooru Link." Zelda said sweetly her blue eyes glimmering.

Link sweat dropped " I hate you." he muttered, resigning himself to the inevitable punishment for interupting Nabooru's "beauty sleep".

* * *

><p><em>Nabooru! His younger version sighed nudging her with the hilt of his sword. "Wake up." Nabooru kept on snoring. "Wake up damn you!" he snapped losing his nerve. Nabooru snapped open her eyes " Hey kid." "What?" "I'm giving you a five second head start."<em>

"_What?"_

Link sighed and walked outside to the bar that Nabooru and her bodyguards were staying in, the old memories trickling in like a river. Link eyed the place cautiously like Sheik on caffeine. " This is not going to be pretty is it?" he muttered as he took a bomb out of his pack that he had purchased last night.

Link chucked the bomb into the bar and made a break for it.

1 …._Do I regret this? Nope._

2 …._Will I regret this? Probably. _

BOOM!

" I'm going to kill you Link." Nabooru's screamed as she shot out like a bolt of lightning, her hair down and clad in red pajama's both were severely blackened and charred. Link sighed and stood in the middle of the road hoping that for once Nabooru would be nice. She wasn't.

Sheik looked at Link smugly as he hobbled back into the library. " No comment." she said, smirking behind her cowl as she looked at the array of purple splotches that dotted his body along with the limping leg.

Zelda looked him over critically " Well your not too badly hurt, your legs are badly bruised and your ribs look cracked but otherwise not too bad." she said as a ball of blue magic appeared in her hands. "Give me a moment."

Link stiffened immediately, his skin re knitting itself and his bones making an audible cracking as they started to mend. It also hurt like Hell. " Thanks Zel." he said calling her his pet name for her. He missed the light blush that tinged her cheeks when he turned away to rub his shoulder.

Zelda yawned and stretched as a moody Sheik returned with Impa, Darunia, and Ruto in tow along with a certain darkly clad sheikah.

Link stood up annoyed " What's he doing here?" he snapped jabbing a finger at Astreaus.

Astreaus shrugged " I'm not going to answer that." he yawned through the cowl that he wore.

Impa looked over at the now boiling pot of water " Good you've got some water for Kafay." she said approvingly as she took out a small cloth wrapped bundle of what appeared to be brown dust.

Nabooru smirked, her spirits in good condition after beating the stuffing out of Link " I'm taking some for my tea." she said, scooping out a mug of boiling water before popping a packet of tea into it.

Zelda looked over at Impa " I don't see how you can stand that stuff." she said before taking out a packet that Link recognized as hot chocolate.

Link sighed and watched the sages take his hot water. Astreaus yawned and took out a packet of what looked like mints before popping one into his mouth and contented himself with slouching against the wall.

Zelda sipped appreciatively at her cup of hot chocolate as Sheik did the same on the opposite side of the table.

Nabooru eyed Sheik curiously as the gerudo sipped her tea " How do you drink with that cowl Sheik?" she asked curiously.

Shiek shrugged and resumed drinking, obviously not willing to divulge her secrets.

Impa blinked and took a chug of her Kafay " Alright so let's get down to the main order of business. What are we going to do?" she said simply.

Zelda shot her former bodyguard a look " How about you tell us what was going on last night and then we can talk about that." she said.

Impa rubbed the bridge of her nose " I thought you gave up on that." she sighed and moodily resumed drinking her Kafay.

Astreaus sighed and opened a single crimson eye at the princess of Hyrule " Look at that massive book you have plopped onto that table." he said bluntly as he slid into the chair next to Sheik. Sheik raised an eyebrow at that but shrugged and resigned her self to stay seated, she had no problem with the other sheikah.

Link raised an eyebrow at Astreaus who met the gaze with a amused glance " Yes?"

Link glared again " Again what are you doing here."

Astraeus blinked " Helping." he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Link glowered somemore and watched Zelda heave open the cover. " Shadows of the ages." he read curiously.

Impa stroked the cover of the book gently " The single book that we the sheikah gifted your ancestors with." she said, tracing the embossed title. " It's a encyclopedia of sorts for forbidden knowledge." she said amused.

Zelda grimaced as she attempted to pry open the cover " Impa, why isn't it opening?" she asked finally after a moment of extertion.

Impa smiled amused " The book requires the blood of 3 different sheikah to open as a way to ensure that the opener of the book had the approval of the sheikah." she said lightly. " If you please, Sheik?"

Sheik sighed and removed the stiletto knife from her bandage wrappings " Alright, let's get this over with." she said and sliced her pinky and allowed several drops of the crimson liquid to fall down onto the cover of the book.

The blood slowly began to glow and crackle.

Impa nodded and took out the throwing needles that were favored by the sheikah and cut her thumb, allowing her blood to join with Sheik's.

Impa tossed the throwing needles or _senbon _over to Astraeus.

Astraeus raised his eyebrows " I don't recall when I ever volunteered to hand over my blood." he said eying the senbon curiously.

Link snapped, the events of last night flooding through him. " You volunteered the moment you entered this room." he snarled clenching his blade " You give us some blood or we're taking it from you."

Astraeus reached into his back pocket for a deku nut, before he felt his wrists lock into place " I don't think so." Zelda said sweetly with a murderous glare.

Sheik sighed and socked Zelda in the stomach " The participant needs to give it **willingly.**" The female sheikah said annoyed as Zelda crumpled.

Link glared at Shiek " Who's side are you on?" he asked.

Sheik glared back " Yours" she snapped and jabbed her finger at Astraeus " Blood now." she said simply.

Astraeus sighed and cut his finger with the senbon " Fine." he muttered, allowing the blood to drip over his finger and onto the cover of the book.

Nabooru smiled " That wasn't so hard was it?" she asked as she finished of the last of her tea.

Astraeus sighed " That was harder than anything I have done in my whole life." He said irritably as he sat back down next to Sheik "Thanks for getting my wrists free." he said simply as he watched his own blood begin to glow.

Sheik shrugged " Welcome."

Link sighed and looked over at the still unconscious Zelda " Did you have to hit her that hard?" he said to Sheik as he flipped open the now obliging book. "Also what did you mean by forbidden knowledge?"

Impa flipped to page 17 and began to read the sheikah runes while saying bluntly " Forbidden means Evil."

Link payed attention to that " Then what are we doing opening up a book of evil knowledge?" he asked pointedly to Astraeus who was toying idly with the senbon he was holding.

Astraeus blinked " What better way to find out about evil than from evil itself?" he said philosophically.

Sheik smiled at the familiar quote " -Obsidian founder of the sheikah." she said lightly.

Astraeus cracked a smile at that " Men gamble away their life savings but are unwilling to part with their own sins. Such is the fault of men."

Sheik's lips twitched " 17th leader of the sheikah, Yinra." she said easily " The longing of life is to be held in the light, yet we all are tempted by darkness."

Astraeus smirked behind his cowl " Dinreu, 7th king of Hyrule." he replied.

Nabooru and Link along with the rest of the sages blinked as they watched the two sheikah trade increasingly more complex philosophical quotes. " Well it's a good of a way to kill time as any." Darunia rumbled as he took a swig from a flask at his side.

20 minutes later...

* * *

><p>Zelda sat up with a start as she rubbed her aching temples " Don't hit me so hard next time." she said to no one in particular as she straightened up and looked around the room.<p>

Astonishingly Sheik was smiling, something she only ever did when she was REALLY happy or really interested in whatever was happening.

Even more astonishingly was who she was talking to. From her limited time with both of the sheikah, she knew that they both were people of few words and that they hardly ever got involved with anything, not to mention their typical antisocial tendencies.

Astraeus turned toward Zelda, his usual mask reasserting itself " Joined the world of the living at last Princess?" he said.

Link sat up with a groan " Finally Princess, we've been listening to these two yapping on about philosophical quotes for 20 minutes."

Sheik shrugged " It was interesting though." she said amused as she looked over at Astraeus " We should do that again some time." she said lightly, plopping herself down into the seat next to the male sheikah.

Zelda looked over at her bodyguard with a odd look, Sheik almost never enjoyed doing something with other people. " What world did I wake up in?" she asked curiously.

Astraeus looked over at the female sheikah " Sure." he said, with a little more warmth in his voice before turning back to Zelda " We got the book open." he said in his normal tone. "Impa's been looking at it." Astraeus gestured toward the sheikah in the corner who looked like her nose was glued to the book.

Nabooru sighed and rubbed her stomach contentedly " That was a good 20 minutes of Drinking." she chuckled, the alcohol making her loose control of her senses.

Darunia nodded, " I won our little contest though." he boomed " 30 shots of goron brewed wine."

Nabooru socked the hefty goron in the shoulder " I was only 2 behind." she protested indignantly.

Zelda sighed and nudged the sage of shadow " Found anything good?" she asked curiously.

Impa sighed and rubbed her nose " I think I know what the other link, or should we say, Umbral Link, is." she said as she flicked over to page 32 " Here it talks about reverses and shades. Dark link was a Darker, or a opposite version of you Link, and he could have been only be killed by your hand."

Nabooru looked over at Impa " So then how do we kill it?" she asked.

Impa shrugged " It says here that for a Reverse or a Shade to die, the creator of the Shade must die or you can find a equally powerful shade to kill it, a little bit more different than Dark Link although we can still injure him we can't directly kill him." she said as she looked at the book.

Ruto plucked absent mindfully at the Zora engagement stone " Well that sounds complicated." she muttered annoyed as she ran her fingers over the blue sapphire.

Link frowned " Wait... I remember Umbral saying that the sky was fitting for the first lock on his master."

Zelda frowned " So we can assume that the creator of the shade is the master tht he's talking about."

Impa rubbed her shoulder exasperatedly " So that means that we have to create or find a shade of equal or grerter power to kill it." she said annoyed.

Sheik twirled around the stiletto in her hand, " Well that's not good." she muttered.

Zelda raised her eyebrow at her bodyguard " What's that supposed to mean?"

Astraeus ran his finger over the senbon that Impa had tossed him earlier " Since the the Umbral Link looks exactly like Link, we can presume that he's the Shade or Reverse of Link, either way, since Link posses the Triforce, a shade of equal power would also have to be a Shade of a weilder of the Triforce."

Nabooru gulped nervously " So that means that since Ganon is now sealed away, the only other weilder of the triforce is..."

Astraeus sighed and rubbed his nose " Zelda," he said " Looks like I won't have time for any philosophy." he sighed as he looked over at Link who was clutching his sword so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

Impa swore " Nayru..." then came some moments of intense cursing and unrepeatable profanities.

Sheik didn't say anything.

Neither did Astraeus.

Nabooru started to look like she was going to pass out.

Ruto did pass out and Darunia sat there looking like he hadn't understood a word of the conversation after Impa said "I."

Zelda poked her former bodyguard " I didn't know you could swear like that." she said curiously before looking over at the other two sheikah " Go scout out side. I don't want anything happening to the sages or Castle town under my watch."

Astraeus sighed and rubbed his shoulder " Whatever." he muttered and dropped a Deku nut before vanishing.

Sheik mirrored his movements except saying " Fine."

Zelda glared at Impa " Now I want to know what happened last night." she snarled dropping her calm air." With no other Sheikah present there's no one to spread the word so what the HELL happened, It's obviously important and since I'm the one who's going to have to make the shade, I think I should be notified of Important stuff."

Impa sighed and raised her hand in defeat. " Edry snikrth." she muttered and a everyone in the room promptly fell asleep " I didn't want to do that." she muttered, the shadow magic that the sheikah practiced was often subtle, only able to be used when the targets were unsuspecting.

"Alright fine I'm telling you, but you really don't like it when people don't tell you things do you?" she muttered as she faced the Crown Princess of Hyrule.

* * *

><p><strong>Good? Bad? Maybe? Please tell me. But the Twili will be introduced in the next chapter which I have almost finished writing. I'm good aren't I? I should wait a little longer inbetween updates but... that'd be a little cruel. I'm thinking 4-5 days. <strong>

**R&R**

**Astra'shadow  
><strong>


	5. Chapter 4 Shades and Sheikahre edited

**Authors Note**

**The plot really get's rolling in this chapter, even though the first part doesn't really seem like it. Keep on reading and I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. **

**By the way Astraeus will be a main supporting character, personally he's fun to write. It'd be nice if you guys dropped a review to tell me how much you like Astraeus' character overall.**

**Ps. I edited this chapter after the I read some reviews. The reviewer pointed out that I was going away from my original Idea of the Story, and in a way I agree with them, now that I've looked at some of the bits it really does seeem immature at times so I put in some more serious and somber pieces. And removed the childish ones. I still left the Bomb scene though.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda, Nuff said.**

* * *

><p>Link snapped open his eyes and looked blearily out side the window. It was still dark outside, Link yawned and looked over at Darunia, the bed he was sleeping on had caved in but regardless the Goron kept on napping.<p>

Link smirked just a little before standing up and sliding on a dark green shirt and his trademark green hat along with a pair of pants. The clothes coming out of the pack that he carried, a gift from Navi from the beginning of their journey. Link sighed and rubbed the old thing lightly. Before he would have carried all of his tools and weapons in there. Now it was used for carrying day to day itiems.

Link sighed wistfully, he could almost imagine reaching into the bag and pulling out his trusty bow and arrow and once more feeling the smooth wood that had served him so well again and started to walk down stairs. A light was on, he noticed as he walked down the stairs. He peered around the corner and stiffened slightly. Zelda was there and clad in light sleep wear that made her look like any other person in the morning except for the thick tome that glimmered in the light of what seemed to be a floating ball of fire.

Zelda snapped her head to the left " Link" she greeted, motioning for him to sit on the chair to her left as she closed the massive tome with a thud. " I didn't know that you would be here." she said lightly, cocking her head to one side ignoring the question.

" Why wouldn't I be here? After all it is a inn isn't it? " Link said, taking out a stick from his pouch and igniting it with the magical fire that Zelda was reading by before placing it under neath a pot that he promptly filled with water from a bottle in his pack.

" No, it's a library." she said faintly amused " I sleep here most of the time."

Link looked over at the princess " Wait... Then the room we've been sleeping in is..."

"Mine." Zelda said before covering up a yawn with her hand.

" Farore Zelda! I'm so sorry." Link stammered as he now realized why the bed sheets were pink and the unusual abundance of books on the shelfs.

" No worries Link." Zelda laughed gently " It's the least I can do for the man who saved my kingdom."

Link looked around " Sheik isn't here is she?" He said nervously while turning around. _She better not be right behind..._ He promptly met the ruby gaze of a not so happy sheikah _me. _The green clad hero sighed.

" You know how uncomfortable it is to sleep on wooden desks?" she snapped annoyed.

Zelda yawned " Never mind that Sheik, now that Links up I suppose we can call everyone together now."

" Fine." she sighed as she ghosted past Link and went to the fountain in the middl e of Castle Town to wake up Ruto.

" Your getting Nabooru Link." Zelda said sweetly her blue eyes glimmering.

Link sweatdropped " I hate you." he muttered, resigning himself to the inevitable punishment for interupting Nabooru's "beauty sleep".

_Nabooru! His younger version sighed nudging her with the hilt of his sword. "Wake up." Nabooru kept on snoring. "Wake up damn you!" he snapped losing his nerve. Nabooru snapped open her eyes " Hey kid." "What?" "I'm giving you a five second head start."_

"_What?"_

Link sighed and walked outside to the bar that Nabooru and her bodyguards were staying in, the old memories trickling in like a river. Link eyed the place cautiously like Sheik on caffine. " This is not going to be pretty is it?" he muttered as he took a bomb out of his pack that he had purchased last night.

Link chucked the bomb into the bar and made a break for it.

1 …._Do I regret this? Nope._

2 …._Will I regret this? Probably. _

BOOM!

" I'm going to kill you Link." Nabooru's screamed as she shot out like a bolt of lightning, her hair down and clad in red pajama's both were severely blackened and charred. Link sighed and stood in the middle of the road hoping that for once Nabooru would be nice. She wasn't.

Sheik looked at Link smugly as he hobbled back into the library. " No comment." she said, smirking behind her cowl as she looked at the array of purple splotches that dotted his body along with the limping leg.

Zelda looked him over critically " Well your not too badly hurt, your legs are badly bruised and your ribs look cracked but otherwise not too bad." she said as a ball of blue magic appeared in her hands. "Give me a moment."

Link stiffened immediately, his skin reknitting itself and his bones making an audible cracking as they started to mend. It also hurt like Hell. " Thanks Zelda."Zelda yawned and muttered a vauge " Your welcome." Before stretching as a moody Sheik returned with Impa, and Darunia in tow along with a certain darkly clad sheikah.

Link stood up annoyed " What's he doing here?" he snapped jabbing a finger at Astreaus.

Astreaus shrugged " I'm not going to answer that." he yawned through the cowl that he wore.

Impa looked over at the now boiling pot of water " Good you've got some water for Kafay." she said approvingly as she took out a small cloth wrapped bundle of what appeared to be brown dust.

Nabooru smirked, her spirits in good condition after beating the stuffing out of Link " I'm taking some for my tea." she said, scooping out a mug of boiling water before popping a packet of tea into it. A pang of home sickness hit her square in the gut. Back at home she would of made their tribal special blend of chai tea. Here she just had Black tea.

Zelda looked over at Impa " I don't see how you can stand that stuff." she said before taking out a packet that Link recognized as hot chocolate.

Link sighed and watched the sages prepare for the morning, each it seemed with their own drink that they enjoyed. It reminded him of when...

**Flashback**

"_You really do like Hot chocolate didn't you Link?" Navi chirped as she flew and hovered around him._

_Link smiled gently at the fairy and rubbed the hilt of a familiar sword as he sipped from a bottle of his favorite confection._

_Zelda smiled indulgently as she watched the two, funny her face looked much less regal then then it did now. " I don't blame him." she said. " Though Navi, remember that he chooses what he likes and not you." she repraimed lightly._

_**End**_

_I did, well at least the me from that other time did. _He thought as he looked at the mug of hot chocalate that Zelda was nursing with a vengance. _Some things never change... _He thought amused.

. Astreaus yawned and took out a packet of what looked like mints before popping one into his mouth and contented himself with slouching against the wall.

Zelda sipped appreciatively at her cup of hot chocolate as Sheik did the same on the opposite side of the table.

Nabooru eyed Sheik curiously as the gerudo sipped her tea " How do you drink with that cowl Sheik?" she asked curiously.

Shiek shrugged and resumed drinking, obviously not willing to divulge her secrets.

Impa blinked and took a chug of her Kafay " Alright so let's get down to the main order of buisness. What are we going to do?" she said simply.

Zelda shot her former bodyguard a look " How about you tell us what was going on last night and then we can talk about that." she said.

Impa rubbed the bridge of her nose " I thought you gave up on that." she sighed and moodliy resumed drinking her Kafay.

Astreaus sighed and opened a single crimson eye at the princess of Hyrule " Look at that massive book you have plopped onto that table." he said bluntly as he slid into the chair next to Sheik. Sheik raised an eyebrow at that but shrugged and resigned her self to stay seated, she had no problem with the other sheikah.

Link raised an eyebrow at Astreaus who met the gaze with a amused glance " Yes?"

Link glared again " Again what are you doing here."

Astraeus blinked " Helping." he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Link glowered somemore and watched Zelda heave open the cover which looked like it was dotted with numerous blood stains. " Shadows of the ages." he read curiously.

Impa stroked the cover of the book gently " The single book that we the sheikah gifted your ansectors with." she said, tracing the embossed title. " It's a encyclopedia of sorts for forbbiden knowledge." she said.

Link looked at her " Why did you give them a gift when you didn't want to serve?" he asked.

Impa smiled bitterly " It was a symbol of sorts, our knowledge for the freedom of all but one clan of our people. A book for our Freedom, how could we refuse?"

Link nodded gently " I understand." he said simply.

Astraeus looked at him, his ruby eyes unusually gentle. "Do you really?" he said softly. " Do you understand how it feels to condemn yourself to a life a servitude."

Link shrugged " I choose the path of the Hero, I didn't understand what it asked of me." he said finally after a moment of thought. _What it asked of me was to lay down my life for the people, to sacrifice everything for everyone elses sake. My friendships, my affections, and my choices. _He thought sadly.

Sheik laughed slightly " I was born into my path, you at least could have turned it down."

Link smiled sadly " Could I really have? Condeming everyone else to a life time of pain for my own happiness?"

Sheik considered the statement " I suppose you didn't have a choice." she said finally.

Zelda grimaced as she attempted to pry open the cover " Impa, why isn't it opening?" she asked finally after a moment of extertion. She was ignoring the conversation behind her " Why are you guys so serious anyway?" she said lightly " Our lifes all have pourposes so you might as well follow them."

_Says the women born into the most lavish and comfortable life style in all of Hyrule. _Link thought bitterly before sighing. He really was getting cynical wasn't he?

Impa looked over at Link, you could tell by his facial expression what he was thinking. " The book requires the blood of 3 different sheikah to open as a way to ensure that the opener of the book had the approval of the sheikah." she said. " If you please, Sheik?"

Sheik sighed and removed a stiletto knife from her bandage wrappings " Alright, let's get this over with." she said and sliced her pinky and allowed several drops of the crimson liquid to fall down onto the cover of the book.

The blood slowly began to glow and crackle.

Impa nodded and took out the throwing needles that were favored by the sheikah and cut her thumb, allowing her blood to join with Sheik's.

Impa tossed the throwing needles or _senbon _over to Astraeus.

Astraeus raised his eyebrows " I don't recall when I ever volunteered to hand over my blood." he said eyeing the senbon curiously.

Link snapped, the events of last night flooding through him. " You volunteered the moment you decided to walk into the town square." he said flatly.

Astraeus reached into his back pocket for a deku nut, before he felt his wrists lock into place " I don't think so." Zelda commented sweetly, her triforce glowing and her a nimbus of light around her fingers.

Sheik sighed and socked Zelda in the stomach " The participant needs to give it **willingly.**" The female sheikah said annoyed as Zelda crumpled.

Link glared at Shiek " Who's side are you on?" he asked.

Sheik glared back " Yours" she snapped and jabbed her finger at Astraeus " Blood now." she said simply as she slung the princess over her shoulder.

Astraeus sighed and cut his finger with the senbon " Fine." he muttered, allowing the blood to drip over his finger and onto the cover of the book.

Nabooru smiled " That wasn't so hard was it?" she asked as she finished of the last of her tea.

Astraeus sighed " That was harder than anything I have done in my whole life." He said irritably as he sat back down next to Sheik "Thanks for getting my wrists free." he said simply as he watched his own blood begin to glow on the tattered books cover.

Sheik shrugged " Welcome."

Link sighed and looked over at the still unconscious Zelda " Did you have to hit her that hard?" he said to Sheik as he flipped open the now obliging book. "Also what did you mean by forbidden knowledge?"

Impa flipped to page 17 and began to read the sheikah runes while saying bluntly " Forbidden means Evil."

Link payed attention to that " Then what are we doing opening up a book of evil knowledge?" he asked pointedly to Astraeus who was toying idly with the senbon he was holding.

Astraeus blinked " What better way to find out about evil than from evil itself?" he said phiosophically.

Sheik smiled at the familiar quote " -Obsidian founder of the sheikah." she said lightly.

Astraeus cracked a smile at that " Men gamble away their life savings but are unwilling to part with their own sins. Such is the fault of men."

Sheik's lips twitched " 17th leader of the sheikah, Yinra." she said easily " The longing of life is to be held in the light, yet we all are tempted by darkness."

Astraeus smirked behind his cowl " Dinreu, 7th king of Hyrule." he replied before looking at the female sheikah " I didn't know you followed philosophy." His crimson eyes danced behind his cowl.

Sheik shrugged " I didn't know you did either." she said.

Nabooru and Link along with the rest of the sages blinked as they watched the two sheikah trade increasingly more complex philosophical quotes. " Well it's a good of a way to kill time as any." Darunia rumbled as he took a swig from a flask at his side.

* * *

><p>20 minutes later...<p>

Zelda sat up with a start as she rubed her aching temples " Don't hit me so hard next time." she said to no one in particular as she straightened up and looked around the room. The princess of Hyrule massaged the three triangles on the back of her hand.

Link looked over at Zelda, she really looked adorable with her sky blue eyes gazing around like a newborn kitten. " You can't control what others do Princess." he said . Zelda shrugged " If I have to I will." she said amused.

Astonishingly Sheik was smiling, something she only ever did when she was REALLY happy or really interested in whatever was happening.

Even more astonishingly was who she was talking to. From her limited time with both of the sheikah, she knew that they both were people of few words and that they hardly ever got involved with anything, not to mention their typical antisocial tendencies.

Astraeus turned toward Zelda, his usual mask reasserting itself " Joined the world of the living at last Princess?" he said.

Link continued to stare at Zelda before swiftly tearing his eyes away and looked back at the book. Three new bloodstains now adorned the cover.

Sheik shrugged " It was interesting though." she said amused as she looked over at Astraeus " We should do that again some time." she said lightly, plopping herself down into the seat next to the male sheikah.

Zelda looked over at her bodyguard with a odd look, Sheik almost never enjoyed doing something with other people.

Astraeus looked over at the female sheikah " Sure." he said, with a little more warmth in his voice before turning back to Zelda " We got the book open." he said in his normal tone. "Impa's been looking at it." Astraeus gestured toward the sheikah in the corner who looked like her nose was glued to the book.

Nabooru sighed and rubbed her stomach contentedly " That was a good 20 minutes of Drinking." she chuckled, the alchohal making her loose control of her senses.

Darunia nodded, " I won our little contest though." he boomed " 30 shots of goron brewed wine."

Nabooru socked the hefty goron in the shoulder " I was only 2 be..." she trailed of in thought for a while. " It reminds me of old times." she sighed as she looked up at the ceiling.

Darunia looked over at her curiously " Old times?"

Nabooru shrugged, the somber mood and eyes giving her a traditionally different look from her usual cheerful personality " When I wasn't a sage." she muttered. She used to be able to walk among her people and exchange friendly words. Now it was like she was in a whole new world.

Zelda sighed and nudged the sage of shadow " Found anything good?" she asked curiously.

Impa sighed and rubbed her nose " I think I know what the other link, or should we say, Umbral Link, is." she said as she flicked over to page 32 " Here it talks about reverses and shades. Dark link was a Darker, or a opposite version of you Link, and he could have been only be killed by your hand."

Link sighed " I really don't want to kill him again." he said. _I don't think I __**can **__kill him again. _He thought, the triforce on his hand dimmed slightly, from dull gold to a light brown. _The triforce acts as a indicator of the bearer's emotions, negative emotions dull it's power, positive emotions bestows great power to the wielder. _He recited in his mind, remembering the word taught to him by Rauru, before vanishing 6 months after ganon's defeat.

Impa said reassuringly " It says here that for a Reverse or a Shade to die, the creator of the Shade must die or you can find a equally powerful shade to kill it, a little bit more different than Dark Link although we can still injure him we can't directly kill him." she said as she looked at the book.

Ruto plucked absent mindedly at the Zora engagement stone " Well that sounds complicated." she muttered annoyed as she ran her fingers over the blue sapphire. " What ever the case, I can't participate the Zora need my leader ship." she said as she walked out of the Tavern.

Zelda looked indignantly at the Zora " Hey! What makes you think you can just walk out?"

Astraeus and Sheik both said in unison " Remember the Zora are not your people princess." Then they glared at each other.

Link frowned " Wait... I remember Umbral saying that the sky was fitting for the first lock on his master."

Zelda frowned " So we can assume that the creator of the shade is the master that he's talking about."

Impa rubbed her shoulder exasperatedly " So that means that we have to create or find a shade of equal or greater power to kill it." she said annoyed.

Sheik twirled around the stiletto in her hand absent minded, " Well that's not good." she muttered.

Zelda raised her eyebrow at her bodyguard " What's that supposed to mean?"

Astraeus ran his finger over the senbon that Impa had tossed him earlier " Since the the Umbral Link looks exactly like Link, we can presume that he's the Shade or Reverse of Link, either way, since Link posses the Triforce, a shade of equal power would also have to be a Shade of a wielder of the Triforce."

Nabooru sighed " What a bother." she muttered, realizing the implications of what they were going to have to do. She wondered if she should of bailed like Ruto. _No..._ she thought _But it's tempting_.

Astraeus sighed and rubbed his nose " Zelda," he said " Looks like I won't have time for any philosophy." he sighed as he looked over at Link who was clutching his sword so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

Impa swore " Nayru..." then came some moments of intense cursing and unrepeatable profanities.

Sheik didn't say anything.

Neither did Astraeus.

Nabooru started to look like she was going to pass out.

Darunia sat there with a somber look " What did we do to deserve this?" he sighed.

Link shrugged " I don't know brother." he said amused. " It seems like crisis after crisis with us."

Zelda poked her former bodyguard " I didn't know you could swear like that." she said curiously before looking over at the other two sheikah and ignoring the somber mood behind her " Go scout out side. I don't want anything happening to the sages or Castle town under my watch."

Astraeus sighed and rubbed his shoulder " Whatever." he muttered before dropping a Deku nut before vanishing.

Sheik mirrored his movements except saying " Fine."

Zelda glared at Impa " Now I want to know what happened last night." she snarled dropping her calm air." With no other Sheikah present there's no one to spread the word so what happened?" she asked.

Impa sighed and raised her hand in defeat. " Edry snikrth." she muttered and a everyone in the room promptly fell asleep " I didn't want to do that." she muttered, the shadow magic that the sheikah practiced was often subtle, only able to be used when the targets were unsuspecting.

"Alright fine I'm telling you." she muttered as she faced the Crown Princess of Hyrule.

* * *

><p>A man clad in all black ran his finger over the flat of the black replica of the master sword he carried, he was currently on a watch tower on some sort. The cold wind began to blow. The chill caressed his face, the cold held no feeling for him now, he only felt pain from the light.<p>

The man surveyed the small ranch and the surrounding houses that lay out before him, a scene right from a Fairy Tale. A soon to be cracked and shattered Fairy Tale. The man who looked like he was made from shadows slung a Ebony black bow from his shoulder.

A man walked over, his tattered garb and dusty countenance showed him to be a rancher. The shade felt a pang of recognition, this was a man that his counter part had known. A sadistic smile spread over his face, a young girl with light brown hair ran out of the house, a odd looking scarf draped around her neck.

The shade watched the two people converse briefly, before the girl went back inside. A sudden neigh broke through the air and he turned around to see a chestnut mare letting loose another shrill neigh.

A black swan feather feltched the arrow shaft he had pulled back and the man released his hold on the string. Zip. Suddenly the Fairy Tale turned bloody. The man collapsed to the ground, a pool of wine red liquid gathering around him like a fountain. _One down... _the shade thought as he swiftly belted on a muzzle on the chestnut mare he had stolen to keep her silent.

A scream resounded through the air, and he turned back his ebony eyes to look at the girl that was looking at the body in fear. The shades whole creation had been based on fear, fear for what he could unleash, fear for what he had been crafted of, and most of all, fear for the havoc he would soon raise upon this world. The ebony man's fingers reached for the tips of his arrows before dropping them, he had much more easier targets to take care of.

A sadistic smile spread across the shades face, he was so close to releasing his master, he could almost feel it. The one thing he longed for since his very creation.

The feeling of dying.


	6. Chapter 6 Music

**Authors note**

**So here's the next up date. Hope you like it. - Astra'shadow  
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* * *

><p>"Alright fine I'm telling you." she muttered as she faced the Crown Princess of Hyrule.<p>

Zelda looked over at the sage of shadows "Well?" she asked, still annoyed about Ruto bailing. I mean come on! The Zora should help the people of Hyrule like they always had.

Impa shrugged " I'm debating how much I'm going to tell you."

Zelda sighed, " How about the whole thing?" she asked.

Impa gazed at Zelda " I'm almost certain that you have reports from the soldiers you sent up there yourself. Why do you still need me to tell you what I learned?"

Zelda blinked " It's helpful to know the whole picture, just as it is helpful to know every puzzle piece to that picture." she replied.

Impa smiled sadly " You still remember that I taught you that?"

Zelda shrugged " Why wouldn't I remember the advice that my friend and bodyguard gave me?"

Impa rubbed her hair uncomfortably " I wasn't aware that you thought of me like that."

Zelda blinked " Why shouldn't I?" she asked, suddenly sounding like the child she once was.

Impa looked outside, at the people of castletown, bustling around without a care in the world outside of their own needs. " I was forced to the position, I thought you'd be frustrated at the fact that you had to have a bodyguard."

Zelda joined Impa in looking outside the window at her people " I was frustrated, but also grateful because you were the only one who taught me to learn from failure."

Impa nodded, her voice suddenly seemed even sadder " What ever the case maybe, all my warriors found that there was a influx of Iron Knuckles in the area along with around 1,000 deaths of the local citizens. It's unusual."

Zelda blinked " Why? Evil draws to itself, you always told me that." she said then laughing once, the muscles in her throat aching like they had not done this in years. " I thought you were hiding one big secret." she laughed before suddenly turning somber " I wish we had been able to prevent their deaths." she said.

"Nothing is ever what it seems princess. No matter what, a Iron knuckle isn't the offensive type. The sheikah I sent were all slaughtered, save Astraeus of course. It'll take an army to get rid of them all and with massive casualties."

"Is that why he's so moody?"

"Don't judge him until you get to know him princess."

"I'll keep that in mind." The Crown Princess of Hyrule said softly as she ran her finger down the triforce pendant that she had inherited from her mother.

Impa nodded sadly " Good, and princess if I may, as your former bodyguard I advise you talk to the people more."

Zelda looked at the Sage curiously " Why?"

Impa stared out side, " Ask Link, he can explain better than I, but in the end, even if you did assist the Hero in killing Ganondorf, the people still don't think much of you. You didn't help by refusing to see the people on the night of the festival."

Zelda sighed " I know, I'm sorry but why would Link be able to explain better than you? You have much more education then he has."

" The greatest education in the world cannot compare to first hand experience princess. I have read about the people, Link has been with the people. He would know more than I ever could. Besides, why are you apologizing to me? The people Is who you owe the apology to, not me."

Sheik leaped idly from roof top to roof top, occasionally climbing over walls to get to a higher altitude, her eyes gleaming in the morning sun as she continued climbing. She briefly wondered if Astraeus could keep up with her, speaking of which, where was he?

The ruby eyed sheikah scanned the crowd for a familiar darkly clad figure and spotted him among a crowd of people that were currently listening to a group a performers that were preforming a traditional serenade. _Citizens, _she thought bitterly _always so quick to forget that their own carelessness brought upon them the chaos that they fear so much and what is one of the shadow folk doing among them?_

The female sheikah launched herself of the roof of a restaurant and landed near him, the shadow magic that the sheikah practiced allowed her to evade the eyes of the towns people. Sheik wove her way through the crowd and just as she was about to punch Astraeus, he turned around.

" Sheik." he greeted, unfazed, the bangs hanging over his wine red eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked furiously " We should be scouting to see if there are any threats like the princess told us to."

Astraeus shrugged " True, but you can gather much more accurate information if you walk with the people, become one with the people. Running around on the roof tops hardly gives good information."

Sheik glared at him. " In case you haven't noticed, most of the towns folk dislike us for who we are, we can't exactly become one with the people."

Astraeus smiled, his left hand tapping to the beat of the music " True, but let me ask you why I am I one with the crowd right now?" he asked.

Sheik glared at him some more, then realizing the clothes he was wearing. Not the traditional tight fitting sheikh clothing and the defining cowl that the sheikah wore, but instead he was dressed in a dark blue Tee shirt with the sheikah symbol on it and black pants, the cowl was now a shade of dark blue instead of the traditional light gray that the sheikah wore. He could almost pass for a everyday citizen except for the cowl.

Astraeus continued to tap his left hand, his eyes intent on the performers watching them pluck the harp and blow the flute with gentle red eyes that seemed much more serene than a sheikah's should be.

Sheik sighed " Fine then, but what information have you gathered from this?" she queried.

Astraeus blinked " Not much, I just enjoy the music." he replied easily before clapping with everyone else when the song ended.

Sheik glowered at him " So you've been doing nothing and disobeying the princess' orders."

Astraeus shrugged and unwrapped his cowl, leaving his face clear, high cheek bones and dark silver hair that was almost traditional among the sheikah revealed themselves. " It's getting stuffy in there and no, technically the princess told me to scout for any possible threats and I am doing that right now."

Sheik stiffened, it was an almost unspeakable disregard for rules for a sheikah to remove their face cowls " What are you doing?" she snapped, eying his face curiously. The eyes had much more sadness than she thought they would have. She had expected sardonic humor and irritability to the extreme. Instead she was confronted with a face that looked like it had suffered much more than the 17 years that it had existed.

Astraeus flicked his dark silver hair slightly, almost Sheik realized idly the exact same shade of hair that Impa had except his were more silver than light gray. " Removing my cowl, what does it look like?"

Sheik glared at him " Don't you know that removing your face cowl is practically a crime?"

Astraeus shrugged " I've never cared for rules." he said simply, before turning back to the performers, who were now striking up a gerudo tune.

" You should try it sometimes." he commented to Sheik, tapping his fingers to the beat again.

Sheik looked at him incredulously like he had suddenly grown a second head. " What? You think that I have that little regard for the rules like you?"

Astraeus shrugged " On your head, and by the way, I haven't heard any signs of threats, do you know when we're supposed to head back?"

Sheik sighed and sat down next to him " Well not really, but why are you listening to music anyway?"

" I thought I told you that I enjoyed it?"

"You enjoy listening to a random arrangement of sounds that have no purpose other than to be listened to?"

"Yes, It help me forget."

"Forget what?" Sheik asked, the riddles that he was speaking in was getting infuriating.

" Who I am." He replied.

Sheik froze she had no good reply to that and sighed before following Astraeus to the wall where he was currently slouching against.

And they both listened to the Music.

* * *

><p>Link snapped awake " How did I end up on the floor?" he asked curiously.<p>

Darunia grumbled and stood up " Blasted Sheikah," he muttered, recognizing the tell tale traces of shadow magic, a barely noticeable drop in the light coming into the room. " If there's one thing you need to know brother, it's that sheikah drink with you in faith and then stab you in the back when you 're unsuspecting."

Nabooru yawned and stood up " Either way, it did give me some sleeping time." she said, feeling more refreshed than she had in days. " It feels interesting to have more than 5 hours of sleep." she observed.

Link looked at the Gerudo astonished " You usually don't get more than 5 hours of sleep?" he exclaimed, " How do you make it through the day?" he asked worried.

Nabooru shrugged " Lot's of tea." she said, examining her reflection in the mirror, she really did look better with out bags underneath her eyes.

"Why?" The green clad Hero asked.

Nabooru smiled bitterly " The people come first before my own needs." she said simply before walking over to Impa and striking up a conversation.

Link felt a pang of guilt, she worked herself into the ground for her people, while he simply did day to day tasks as a simple ranch hand. _What type of hero am I? _He thought. Then came the answer _I'm no hero. _He thought almost bitterly, all he had was a golden triangle on the back of his hand.

Darunia rumbled and stood up with a puff " Where are the other Sheikah?" he asked curiously.

Zelda looked over at them " It's nice to see you guys awake and I sent the sheikah outside to scout for any possible threats. It'd be foolish to let down our guard while Umbral Link still runs free."

Link nodded " True, True." He said before turning his eyes out to the windows " You know I don't appreciate getting put to sleep without my consent." he commented, fingering the hilt of his blade.

Zelda turned her eyes to the table " I know." she said " I'm sorry about that."

Link looked at her curiously " Don't apologize for what other people have done Zel." he said calmly before turning to Impa " Was it really necessary?"

Impa shrugged " Probably not, we didn't discuss much, just about the infestation of Iron Knuckles that have appeared in the north."

Nabooru winced " Ouch, it'll take forever to get rid of them." she said.

Zelda nodded " Yeah it will."

Link fingered the hilt of his blade, Iron knuckles... He would hate to fight them now, without Navi to give some hints, albiet some really annoying hints. He probably wouldn't be able to take even two of the iron clad knights.

The last time he had done it... it hadn't been pretty, besides back then he had the ocarina with him. Link felt a pang of guilt echo through his gut _I didn't want to lose you. _He thought sadly. Before he derailed his train of thought, why did he feel sad about losing the ocarina? If anything he should feel grateful, the ocarina was the last thing that he had kept on him that was a tie to his old life as a hero. No matter what people called him these days, he wasn't a hero anymore.

Nabooru looked outside at the castle square where a group of performers were playing the song that she had shared with them at the festival night. " Hey, their playing the Dance of the Gerudo." she said cheerfully as she swiftly ran out of the door of the old library they were staying in to the town square to admire the music.

Link listened for a moment before following Nabooru " It's got a nice beat." he commented " Catchy." He said, the experience of listening to Sheik on the harp had taught him to identify and replicate melodies. At least with the Ocarina. He thought dryly.

Darunia chuckled but remained inside.

"Darunia are you sure you don't want to come?" she asked, as she followed the Gerudo and the Hero of time, mindful of Impa's advice earlier in the day.

"I'll be fine princess." the Goron rumbled.

Impa nodded " I'm staying also princess. I need to catch up on some rest."

Zelda nodded " Alright, see you two later." she said as she hurried out, the pink and gold dress she was wearing occasionally tangling up her thighs. _Blasted Dresses _she thought annoyed.

Impa smirked as she watched the Princesses retreating form " She really needs to get out more, not spend her days soaking up books." she commented to Darunia.

Daruna looked at the pink clad fuigre and nodded " Some peoples princesses." he said amused.

Sheik sighed and slouched even further on the wall they were leaning on " When should we go back?" she asked as she continued to listen to the song that the performers were playing.

Astraeus shrugged " The Library's right over there. If the princess is in trouble we'll hear her from here."

Sheik glared at him disbelievingly " Over the music?"

Astraeus nodded " A scream is definitely more piercing than any amount of music could be." The sheikah looked at Sheik curiously " You should know this, why are you disregarding your training?"

Sheik kept her eyes fixed on the performers on the stage " The training I had was to guard the princess, not how to be a sheikah, that privilege was reserved for your clan."

Astraeus blinked then looked back at the performers, "I'm sorry." He applauded gently with the rest of the crowd as the song ended and as he did he noticed a mane of red hair gathered up into a hasty ponytail. " Isn't that Nabooru?" he asked.

Sheik nodded. " Yes." she said and spotted the distinct green clothing of a certain hero " And the Hero."

Clearing his eyes with the back of his hands, he noticed a crown bobbing among the crowd of people, and the occasional bow that some townspeople preformed in the direction of the crown " Not to mention the princess." he commented.

Sheik sighed " What is she doing?" she asked to no one in particular, about to shove through the crowd to get to her charge, before nimble fingers gripped her shoulder.

" Let the princess be." Astraeus said.

"Why?" Sheik demanded, her fingers attempting to force the other shiekah's fingers of her shoulder, it was no use, he had her in a grip like iron.

" She needs time without one of her shadows, to relax." he calmly commented.

" But..." Sheik protested.

" She's with the Hero, what could happen? Although the Hero didn't do quite that well last night did he?"

Sheik bristled slightly at the statement, " I trust Link to be able to take care of the princess." she said calmly.

The corners of his lips twitched and Astraeus swiftly wound back the cowl around his face again " So do I." he said. Sheik looked at him with a skeptical gaze and the sheikah lifted his hands " What?" he asked.

"Nothing." Sheik muttered as she noticed Zelda jab Link in the shoulder and point in her direction. She sighed " So much for not being caught." she sighed.

Astraeus shrugged and tossed a silver coin into the hat that the performers were passing around. "Excellent work." he said to the performer, who smiled and bowed once gratefully.

"Thank you." he said bowing once again, while Astraeus bowed slightly in response.

Astraeus nodded and stepped back, allowing the performer to continue on his way.

Link walked over with a light spring in his step " Interesting Song." he said. Though, Sheik observed, his face was slightly sad, as if he had lost something or that he was just disappointed.

The brunette princess followed behind the hero in step " That it was." she commented before locking eyes with Astraeus.

Staring back, Astraeus was thankful that he had thought to wound his cowl back around his face, it would be no good if the princess saw his face.

Sheik stepped into the silent staring match in between the sheikah and the princess " So then what did you discuss after you sent us out here?"

Zelda ran a finger through her long brunette locks " Not much." she said calmly " Just the Iron knuckles invasion up north." Zelda eyed Astraeus' face intently. The shiekah tensed, suddenly looking like a hunted rabbit before relaxing.

Sheik frowned " No Dark, or should I say, Umbral Link?" she asked disappointed, not seeing her fellow sheikah react to those previous words.

Zelda shook her head, her long brown locks sweeping in front of her face " Nope." she said.

Fingering a Senbon idly, Astraeus interjected into the conversation " How are we going to make a Shade anyway?" he asked.

Link shrugged " No idea." he said.

Zelda frowned " Well, I have been pouring over a lot of books about that topic and so far, I haven't gotten anywhere."

Link ran his fingers over the blade that was hitched over his shoulder " You know it's easier to say I don't know than to go of on that speil you just did."

Zelda looked at the green clad man " Most of us aren't born that blunt."

" I wasn't born this blunt." he countered playfully.

Sheik shrugged and stayed silent, running her fingers through her blond locks.

Nabooru smiled cheerily as she looked over at the two sheikah, " What are you two doing here?" she asked.

Sheik looked over at Astraeus and he returned the look, _Your responding... _Sheik's eyes said.

_No way, _Astraeus' ruby eyes replied before after a particularly intense series of glares he sighed " Listening to the music." He said.

Nabooru looked over at the sheikah in surprise " I wouldn't have pegged you for the musical type, you sheikah are about as musical as a stone." she jibed, obviously trying to pick a fight.

Astraeus shrugged, the motion saying, _since when did I care what you gerudo thought about me?_

Zelda shrugged also, and suddenly a wizened old man tripped over her shoe and she snapped out her hand to catch him.

"Watch where your..., PRINCESS." he exclaimed, swiftly releasing his hand from hers. " It's nice to see you out and about." he said after a moment of frantic bowing and apologies.

Zelda smiled " It's nice to be out and about." she said, bowing slightly in return, as was customary upon the people of castle town. _Well your right... As usual, Impa. But I didn't have to ask Link. _She thought cheerfully, hating to ask the Hero for help.

The old man smiled in return and gave one last bow before leaving.

Zelda nodded and motioned to everyone in their little group and was about to suggest they go get soemthing to ear before a loud thud resounded around the Town Square " Impa?" She muttered worriedly as she looked at the library. The crowd turned some heads but no one really took notice.

Sheik looked at her charge curiously " What do you think happened?" she queireid.

Link looked over at the princess " That didn't sound good." he commented.

Zelda sighed and rubbed her auburn locks " Yeah." she said, walking the short distance to the old library where they had been staying.

Link blinked and followed, running his hands restlessly over his sword handle. _I could really use Epona right now. _He thought mournfully, as he forced his way through the crowd, remembering how the crowd parted like dust when he rode on his mare. Zelda passed out of his view and the Hero of time sighed. The hero opened the library doors and looked around, the sounds of eager conversation was echoing through the room.

"Zel? Impa?" he asked cautiously.

Impa looked over at him, "Get over here." she said. Link blinked at the loss of manners from the normally quiet and polite shiekah. He then spotted a table that looked like it had been stepped on by a giant. He summerized that was probably the cause of the sound he had heard outside.

Never the less he did as he was told and looked over at the book that they had been pouring over, Shadows of the ages,. The current page they were on showed a list of ingredients, instructions, and a odd diagram of the map of Hyrule.

"So what is it I'm looking at?" Link asked drly.

Nabooru, Sheik, and Astraeus followed in with a light thud and looked at the diagram over Links shoulder.

Astraeus frowned but didn't say anything and Sheik had the same basic reaction.

Nabooru looked over at the diagram of a map of Hyrule intently, her eye brows folded slightly in. Her amber and brown clothing further enchancing her appearance to make her look like a disapproving queen.

" A Map." Impa said dryly, running her fingers over the worn leather surface.

Sheik settled her self against the wall and slouched. " A map of what?" she asked curiously.

Link looked over at the piece of parchment closely " It has the three largest provinces cirlcled in black." he pointed out. Jabbing his finger at Kakariko, Castle town, and a gerudo settlement called Desturiou

Astraeus frowned but didn't say anything. Nabooru was looking over at the rest of the page, " Damn it." she said simply, before ripping her scimitars out of her scabbards " Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" she screamed, proceeding to demolish a near by book shelf to bits.

Astraeus took his turn and poured over the page. The senbon in his fingers embedded themselves into the wall next to him. Each driving in atleast 5 inches deep.

Link looked over at the sheikah " Hey!" he snapped irritated, as Sheik looked over the paper. **Crunch! **A loud shredding sound filled the air. Link looked over at Sheik who was shredding up a piece of paper into smaller and smaller pieces. "Sheik.. What..." Link asked, before deciding that It'd be easier to read the paper and get it over with.

Sheik scowled and settled herself back against a wall, while Astraeus disarmed Nabooru with a quick leg sweep to knock her of her feet before snatching the weapons out of her hands.

Link looked down at the page, the parchment he noted had several drops of blood and what looked like dried sweat running across it.

**Pg. 17 _Shadows of the Ages_**

**The pen I now write with is growing dull... I know my time as the leader of the sheikah is coming to an end. The age in my bones tells me so. Still I have enough strength to write these words as guidance to those after me.**

**The creation of a shade or the undoing of a lock created by a shade are both similar in many different regards. The first step in either of theses methods is to first aquire a instrument forged from power, wisdom, and courage. Prime examples being: The Ocarina of Time, The Goddess Harp(See pg. 19), Or the Forest's Fiddle(see pg. 21). The instrument is essential in the creation of a Shade or the destruction of lock created by a shade. The next step is to kill the sum of 200,00 people to allow their deaths to bleed into the vrytzx or void I have marked the 3 largest settlements in Hyrule on the next page, as the deaths still haunt the very air play Death's Aria with the instrument, to gather their souls into a solid form and proceed onward with the creation of a shade. If you are seeking ot destroy a lock, then find a drop of blood from the locks creator's body and along with the souls, spread it over the lock and watch it shatter. The souls are required as only darkness will undo a dark lock. **

**The creation of a shade on the other hand is difficult to the extreme. The steps I list below, **

**A source of power equivilant to the triforce (the souls listed may act as a subsitute.)**

**Blood from the person you are wanting to shade.**

**Arrow crafted from holy light.**

**A Bow forged with cold darkness.**

**Smear the blood of the person over the arrow of light and fire the arrow from the bow forged from darkness at the person you are wanting to shadow.**

**The blood of the person will fuse together with the source of power in step one and the bearer of the shadow will hopefully be saved from a long and cruel death.**

**The shade has been created..**

**I pen these words with my dying breath, may these instructions serve as a guide for those who have a urge for a warrior of unrelenting might or to understand and prevent any impending catastrophes. May these words never see the light of day.**

**My wife Corona and all my children, especially my dear little Apmi, Forgive me,**

**Incaraues 3rd leader of the sheikah. **

Link looked over at the paper with a stunned eye. _Umbral Link wanted the ocarina to unlock the seal. _Link thought as a cold hand suddenly seized his heart, a certain section of the page sprang back into his mind. _The deaths of 200,000 people to gather their souls..._ With a sinking feeling he realized what that passed the page onto Zelda who, at the moment looked like a fish out of water. " 200,000 people are going to die soon princess." He said, " I hope the bearer of wisdom lives up to her name."


End file.
